Still



E. E. MELBY Jan. 5, 1965 STILL Filed May 28, 1962 lbw M45 .17225INVENTOR.

United States PatentOfiFice 3,164,536 Patented Jan. 5, 1965 Thisinvention relates to stills and more particularly to small low capacitystills suitable for use in the family kitchen or in school laboratorydemonstrations.

It is an object of the present invention to provide in this field, acompact, inexpensive still which is adapted to be used in conjunctionwith water boiling vessels in common use and particularly withteakettles having sharply upturned spouts.

Distilled water is widely preferred for drinking purposes and the priceof this delivered in five gallon bottles has risen to a point Where itequals that of regular'motor fuel.

It is another object of the present invention, therefore, to provide asimple, small, inexpensive still which may be readily associated ordisassociated with a teakettle in which hot water is kept availablewhile cooking, so that the steam emitted from the kettle, instead ofadding to the already high humidity in the kitchen, will be condensedand collected to provide distilled water for any use desired.

A further object of the present invention is to provide such a stillwhich is compact, light in weight, and is so constructed that theinternal passages thereof are readily accessible for cleaning.

Still another object of the invention is to provide such a still whichcomprises a single piece of glass, whereby the opportunity foradulteration of the condensate formed therein is reduced to a minimumand whereby the internal surfaces of the still may be kept underobservation so that these may be cleaned whenever this becomesnecessary.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a stillwhich is supported in cantilever fashion on a teakettle spout, fromwhich it receives a constant supply of vapor, with such still extendingaway from over said teakettle, thereby enhancing the efiiciency withwhich said vapor is condensed by the still, and facilitating theintroduction of vessels beneath said still to receive distillatetherefrom by gravity.

The manner of accomplishing the foregoing objects as well as furtherobjects and advantages will be made manifest in the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in whichFIG. 1 is a perspective view of a still comprising a preferredembodiment of the present invention mounted on the spout of a teakettleand being operated to produce distilled water.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of said still taken on the line 2--2of FIG. 1, and shows the still mounted on a different type of teakettlespout.

Referring specifically to the drawing the invention is there shown asembodied in a still which is made of a single integral piece of glassand includes a horizontal manifold pipe 11, a spout receptacle pipe 12,a multiplicity of condensing tubes 13 and a condensate collecting trough14.

The manifold pipe 11 is cylindrical and has end walls 15 and 16 whichclose opposite ends thereof. Said pipe 7 also has a relatively largevapor inlet hole 17 which opens downwardly from said pipe midway betweensaid ends and a multiplicity of relatively small holes 18 which openfrom said pipe with-the axes of said holes lying in approximately ahorizontal plane. ,Spout receptacle pipe 12 overlies inlet hole 17 andis integrally united with the pipe 11 so as to extend downwardlytherefrom at an inclination of about 16 degrees with the vertical.

The condensing tubes 13 are equal in number to the small holes 18 in themanifold pipe 11 and'are integrally united with the latter 'so as .tocommunicate respectively with said holes. The condensing tubes areparallel with each other and spaced about A apart and lie in a planewhich is slightly inclined downwardlyfrom horizontal.

The condensate collecting trough 14 is preferably semicylindrical inshape and may be described as including an inner wall 20, a bottom wall25,'an outer wall 26 and an end wall 27. Outer ends of the tubes 13integrally unite with the trough inner wall 20 and the latter isapertured so that the interior passages of said tubes open directly intothe interior of said trough.

The trough 14 is preferably canted downwardly so that a free space isprovided above the upper edge of outer wall 26 for the introduction of asmall-diameter bottle brush along broken line 29 whereby the interiorpassages 28 may be readily cleaned when this is necessary. Cleaning ofthe manifold pipe 11 and the receptacle pipe 12 can be readilyaccomplished by inserting'an angle brush through this pipe into theopposite end portions of the manifold pipe 11.

The still 10 is particularly designed so as to be readily mounted onvarious types of sharply upturned spouts such as are provided onteakettles available generally on the market. To mount the still, forinstance on a teakettle 30, having such an upturned tapering spout 31with a diameter substantially smaller than the inside diameter of thepipe 12, a soft annular packer 32 is provided which fits around saidspout and into said pipe as shown inFIG. 1, thereby making a fluid tightseal between said spout and said pipe and supporting the weight of thestill on said teakettle.

In FIG. 2, the still is shown as mounted on a spout 33 of a whistleteakettle (not shown). This spout is cylindrical with a flared lip 34and has an internal diameter enough larger than the external diameter ofpipe 12'so that a soft annular packer 35 must be provided to seal thespace between pipe 12 and the spout 33 when said pipe is inserteddownwardly in said spout.

When the still 10 is mounted on a teakettle as shown in FIGS. 1 or 2,the weight of the still is readily supported by the teakettle and amplespace is thus provided under the open end of the trough 14 for receivinga vessel such as a water glass 40 into which condensate produced by thestill may be delivered. Where the still 10 is to be used for anindefinite period, a flexible plastic hose leading from a five gallonbottle placed on the floor may be attached to the open end of the trough14 so that condensate will be directed down this hose to the bottle.

The still 10 may be made of various materials and yet perform itsfunctions with complete satisfaction. Preferably, however, the still ismade of clear glass and may be molded in a single operation.

While for illustrative purposes a single embodiment of the invention hasbeen shown and described herein, it is to be understood that variouschanges may be made in this without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of the appended claims.

The claims are:

1. In a still adapted to distill water vapor produced in a teakettlehaving an upwardly inclined spout, the combination of: a horizontalmanifold pipe opposite ends of which are closed, said pipe having arelatively large inlet hole opening downwardly therefrom midway betweensaid ends, and a multiplicity of relatively small holes opening fromsaid pipe, the axes of said small holes lying in an approximatelyhorizontal plane; a spout connection pipe integrally united with saidmanifold pipe to connect with said inlet hole and to extend downwardlytherefrom in telescopic relation with said'spout, when holes .in saidmanifold .pipe :and integrally united with the latter, said tubesinclining slightly downward from horizontal; and a .substantiallyhorizontal trough -coninecting integrally with outer ends of saidcondensing tubes to receive and collect condensate flowing "from saidtubes, oneendOf'said troughbeing closed whereby condensate flowsexclusively from'the opposite end of said trough.

2. A still as recited in-claim 1' wherein said trough'has a bottom wall,outer and inner side walls and an end wall, said inner side wall beingintegrally united with outer ends of said tubes and being aperturedcoaxiallywith said tubes to connect the innerpassages of said tubes withthe interior of said trough, the outer-side wallof said trough providingfree spaces in alignment with said interior tubular passages for theinsertion into. the latter of a small diameter bottle brush for cleaningsaid passages.

3. A still as recited in claim 2 wherein said trough is canted about itslongitudinal axis to lower the upper edge of the outer side wall of saidtrough to a level at which the latter does not substantially hinder thecleaning ofsaid tubular passages as aforesaid, yet not impairing theeffectiveness of said'trough in its collection of condensate flowingfrom said tubes and the delivery of said condensate at the opening endofsaid :trough into a receptacle provided for receiving the same.

References Cited bythe Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 11,73 0 12/93'Denison. 543 ,826 7/95 Dieterle. 604,550 5/98 Stretch. 660,257 10/00Lance. 698,958 4/ 02 J ester.

971,486 9/10 Brandon.

NORMAN YUDKOFF, Primary Eraminer. 'GEORGED. MITCHELL, Examiner.

1. IN A STILL ADAPTED TO DISTOLL WATER VAPOR PRODUCED IN A TEAKETTLEHAVING AN UPWARDLY INCLINED SPOUT, THE COMBINATION OF: A HORIZONTALMANIFOLD PIPE OPPOSITE ENDS OF WHICH ARE CLOSED, SAID PIPE HAVING ARELATIVELY LARGE INLET HOLE OPENING DOWNWARDLY THEREFROM MIDWAY BETWEENSAID ENDS, AND A MULTIPLICITY OF RELATIVELY SMALL HOLES OPENING FROMSAID PIPE, THE AXES OF SAID SMALL HOLES LYING IN AN APPROXIMATELYHORIZONTAL PLANE; A SPOUT CONNECTION PIPE INTEGRALLY UNITED WITH SAIDMANIFOLD PIPE TO CONNECT WITH SAID INLET HOLE AND TO EXTEND DOWNWARDLYTHEREFROM IN TELESCOPIC RELATION WITH SAID SPOUT, WHEN SAID STILL IS INUSE; A YIELDABLE PACKER FOR MAKING A SEALED CONNECTION BETWEEN SAIDCONNECTION PIPI AND SAID SPOUT AND THROUGH WHICH SAID STILL IS SUPPORTEDON AID SPOUT WHEN IN USE WITH SAID STILL EXTENDING IN CANTILEVER FASHIONAWAY FROM OVER SAID TEAKETTLE; A MULTIPLICITY OF PARALLEL CONDENSINGTUBES CONNECTING RESPECTIVELY WITH SAID SMALL HOLES IN SAID MANIFOLDPIPE AND INTEGRALLY UNITED WITH THE LATTER, SAID TUBES INCLING SLIGHTLYDOWNWARD FROM HORIZONTAL; AND A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL TROUGHCONNECTING INTEGRALLY WITH OUTER ENDS OF SAID CONDENSING TUBES TORECEIVE AND COLLECT CONDENSATE FLOWING FROM SAID TUBES, ONE END OF SAIDTROUGH BEING CLOSED WHEREBY CONDENSATE FLOWS EXCLUSIVELY FROM THEOPPOSITE END OF SAID TROUGH.